Accurate patient alignment without unnecessary imaging using patient-specific 3D CT images synthesized from 2D kV images.

Background: In radiotherapy, 2D orthogonally projected kV images are used for patient alignment when 3D-on-board imaging (OBI) is unavailable. However, tumor visibility is constrained due to the projection of patient's anatomy onto a 2D plane, potentially leading to substantial setup errors. In treatment room with 3D-OBI such as cone beam CT (CBCT), the field of view (FOV) of CBCT is limited with unnecessarily high imaging dose.

Radiation Dose Sensitivity of Subregions of the Larynx to Patient-Reported Swallowing Outcomes.

Purpose: To assess any correlation between swallowing dysfunction and radiation dose to 5 subregions of the larynx.

Methods And Materials: A cohort of 136 patients with head and neck cancer, treated with either photon or proton radiation therapy, was assessed using an endpoint of patient-reported swallowing scores, evaluated with the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-H&N35 survey, within 1 month after treatment. Five subregions of the larynx were contoured, and dosimetric metrics were extracted for each subregion as well as the total larynx.

Knowledge-based quality assurance of a comprehensive set of organ at risk contours for head and neck radiotherapy.

Introduction: Manual review of organ at risk (OAR) contours is crucial for creating safe radiotherapy plans but can be time-consuming and error prone. Statistical and deep learning models show the potential to automatically detect improper contours by identifying outliers using large sets of acceptable data (knowledge-based outlier detection) and may be able to assist human reviewers during review of OAR contours.

Methods: This study developed an automated knowledge-based outlier detection method and assessed its ability to detect erroneous contours for all common head and neck (HN) OAR types used clinically at our institution.

Impact of radiation dose distribution on nutritional supplementation needs in head and neck cancer radiotherapy: a voxel-based machine learning approach.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between nutritional supplementation and radiation dose to the pharyngeal constrictor muscles and larynx for head and neck (HN) cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed radiotherapy (RT) dose for 231 HN cancer patients, focusing on the pharyngeal constrictors and larynx. We defined nutritional supplementation as feeding tube utilization or >10% weight loss from baseline within 90 days after radiotherapy completion.

Mean Oral Cavity Organ-at-Risk Dose Predicts Opioid Use and Hospitalization during Radiotherapy for Patients with Head and Neck Tumors.

Background: Approximately 75% of all head and neck cancer patients are treated with radiotherapy (RT). RT to the oral cavity results in acute and late adverse events which can be severe and detrimental to a patient's quality of life and function. The purpose of this study was to explore associations between RT dose to a defined oral cavity organ-at-risk (OAR) avoidance structure, provider- and patient-reported outcomes (PROs), opioid use, and hospitalization.